CHAPTER 858: CHAPTER 581: I AM QINGYUNZI

The image of the Great Dream Dao is that of a seven-colored butterfly.

"Zhuang Zhou dreams of being a butterfly, or is it the butterfly dreaming of Zhuang Zhou?"

Lu Chenzhou recalled the ancient sages’ tomes.

The butterfly’s wings quivered ever so slightly; upon their surface appeared countless faces, each with eyes tightly closed, representing all living beings.

Atop every face floated a bubble, symbolizing its dream.

The dreams of billions formed the scales on those wings.

The scales in turn composed intricate, mysterious patterns, like tadpole-shaped characters.

Upon closer inspection, these characters bore striking similarity to the script used by Great Wilderness cultivators and the Divine Court for transmitting cultivation methods.

These are Daoist Texts; every Dao rule bears them on its surface.

Comprehending the Dao, memorizing the Dao Texts, arranging and combining them in certain sequences—thus can one create a cultivation method for that Dao.

Lu Chenzhou needed to create a Seventh Rank method for the Great Dream Dao; these were of paramount importance.

Each Dao Text contained the profound truth of the Dao, requiring great effort of spirit and mind for him to commit to memory.

In his mind, the Martial Arts Tree was drenched in Dao Essence, rising ever higher.

His Fifth Rank Chaos Dao ascended in small increments, while the Fourth Rank Great Dream Dao shot upwards section by section, unstoppable!

Lu Chenzhou was utterly immersed, thick Great Dream Dao Essence spreading from him as its center, sweeping across a thousand li in the blink of an eye.

The drunken apes in the mountains collapsed one by one, falling into a deep slumber.

The grandmasters, great grandmasters, and even heavenly kings borrowing the Grotto Heaven for cultivation, all fell into dreamland unawares.

The Heart Dream Emperor had only just stepped into the cave’s entrance when she froze in place, carefully sensing this Dao Essence of Unity of Heaven and Man.

"The Military Leader’s Great Dream Dao is about to break through."

She sat cross-legged on the spot and began to meditate.

Such is the benefit of following Lu Chenzhou: one can occasionally bask in his Dao Essence.

Even after refining the Dao Stele, the Great Dream Dao was still just short of Fifth Rank.

Lu Chenzhou seized the momentum, depending on toil and insight, persevering in comprehension without shortcuts.

So it went, for half a year.

On this day—

In his mind, the Martial Arts Tree issued a clear notification.

[Great Dream Dao: Fourth Rank (100%) → Fifth Rank (1%)]

Lu Chenzhou ended his meditation and opened his eyes serenely; within his pupils, a seven-colored butterfly’s shadow flashed and vanished.

The butterfly metamorphosed, leaving behind two gigantic eggs like stars in the void.

"At last, the fourth Fifth Rank Dao."

Lu Chenzhou let out a long, slow breath.

The farther one goes in understanding the Dao, the more difficult it becomes.

No wonder, though acupoint opening was already behind them, Da Xia’s Seven Realms cultivators still progressed but slowly.

Dao enlightenment is even harder than opening acupoints.

He made it look easy—first, because of his miraculous insight; second, because he could refine others’ Dao Essence.

After Seventh Realm, all secret techniques, combat skills, cultivation methods, and divine skills—all martial arts cultivation—boiled down to Dao cultivation at their core.

With the Great Dream Dao at Fifth Rank, his Martial Arts Tree kept rising, reaching two million zhang.

[Chaos Dao: Fifth Rank (20%)]

At the Fifth Rank of Great Dream, Lu Chenzhou glanced back at the Lantuo Heart Sutra—and immediately perceived numerous flaws.

"There’s no such thing as a perfect cultivation method; before the Great Dao, they’re all but child’s play."

Lu Chenzhou recalled that flawless, dazzling seven-colored butterfly.

In the ocean of consciousness, his spiritual power ceaselessly simulated, copying out the Dao Texts one by one.

Different Dao Texts combined randomly—sometimes bursting, sometimes fading out in illusion.

With each failure, his spiritual power was harmed bit by bit.

He persisted, failing and trying again, the bottles of Earth Immortal Dew mounting beside him.

"If I can simulate even one ten-thousandth of the Divine Essence of that seven-colored butterfly, I’ll be able to elevate the Lantuo Heart Sutra to new heights."

...

Ancient Dragon Realm.

In a remote, wild land—

Out in the Ruins Sea beyond the boundary—

"Father King, look! I can roam the Ruins Sea too!"

"And me!"

Seven slender, pallid dragonkin youths—male and female—all with a single horn and two pairs of translucent wings on their backs, played together.

They were Void Dragon Descendants, also of the Golden-Eyed Human Clan, their auras ranging from Fourth to Sixth Realm.

The waves of the Ruins Sea parted; a middle-aged man, thin and sharp-featured, with dragon horns and wrapped in blue light armor, gazed on in satisfaction.

"Not bad—devote yourselves to sensing this Ruins Sea; experience the power of the Void, let it help your bloodline evolve."

"Father, can we one day grow as strong as our ancestors?" one boy, no more mature than a child, asked.

The man sighed inwardly yet smiled, speaking firmly:

"Cultivate well, and we’ll all become Ancient True Spirits who roam the Three Thousand Worlds and shake all beneath heaven.

Never forget—our ancestor was a Void True Dragon!"

For all dragonkin, their blood was dragon by origin.

Ancient True Spirits are few; the Dragon Clan holds half their number.

"Heh, what’s a True Dragon? Merely a slave to the Divine."

Suddenly, a mocking laughter echoed in their minds.

A crushing divine pressure fell from Heaven, as if casting one to the bottom of a ten-thousand-zhang sea.

Swoosh! A streak of white flashed, cleaving through the surf—a warship glimmering with divine radiance, two figures standing at its prow.

One, spirited and clad in Red Flames armor; the other, with a somber face, bearing a Divine Bow upon his back.

"Divine Race?" The man’s expression changed faintly.

Before he could guess their intentions—

Two auras, both nigh the Eighth Realm, erupted in concert.

Without suspense, the Seventh Realm early-stage man was suppressed on the spot.

"What are you doing? Do you intend to go to war with my Ancient Dragon Realm? Know you not we have Eighth Realm existences?"

The man’s eyes bulged in anguish, staring at his children in the Ruins Sea, some dead, some unconscious.

Mere moments ago, they had still been yearning to transform into Nine Heavens True Dragons...

He had simply led these Void Dragon Descendant youths to the Ruins Sea as usual to cultivate.

Fang Xingyu stepped to him, thrusting her sword into his chest.

She bit her tongue; a drop of world-ending golden-crimson blood fell, transforming into a tiny bird of Red Flames, burrowing into his wound.

Scalding, tyrannical crimson blood flooded his meridians, shattering his armor on contact.

Soon, a Bi Fang totem, majestic and lifelike, was traced upon his skin, burning both body and soul.

Not long after, he ceased to struggle and passed into unconsciousness.

When he awoke again, his eyes were dazed.

Fang Xingyu drew out her longsword, lifted his chin, and whispered by his ear with a smile:

"Call me master."

"Master."

"That’s right. In the face of the Divine, so-called dragons are but worms."

The man fell silent and followed Fang Xingyu onto the warship.

"Father, where are you going?" A Sixth Realm young dragon opened their eyes in confusion.

Yin Jiujiao drew and released an invisible arrow, rending the Ruins Sea; every dragon child and offspring perished instantly.

With a sudden inhale, he swallowed their bodies, erasing all traces.

Then he took out a drop of rich Demon Venerable’s Essence Blood, crushed it, and released its boundless demon energy into the void.

The two regarded the Ancient Dragon Great World, sneered, and gracefully departed by boat.

...

Ancient Dragon Realm.

A vast empire ruled by the Void Dragon Clan.

In the imperial palace, a silver-haired lady in a blue dress, watering her flowers, suddenly had scales burst forth along her arm, pain stabbing at her heart.

She transformed; her upper half was human, her lower half like a serpent with dorsal fins, long and sinewy, tore the void and swam through the Ruins Sea—her eyes brimming with tears.

"My child..."

That very day, the Ancient Dragon Realm was shaken.

An exalted Seventh Realm Void Dragon Descendant vanished without a trace.

...

In the blink of an eye, it was the New Year of Year 77.

The human civilization of Tianxia saw its population explode during this period of recuperation.

Land Army Master, single for seventy years, bore the weight of the world, brokenhearted over Tianxia’s birth rate.

He had the Elder Council implement a "childbearing incentives policy," promoting "the more children, the better," along with a robust system of socialized childrearing.

Those with decent martial talent were provided compulsory education through university.

Land Army Master also set a nine-level martial talent grading system.

The highest grade required a breakthrough to Martial Arts Grandmaster before age twenty-five.

Such talents could become his direct disciples.

However, for now, none had reached that standard.

After all, even Lu Chenzhou had only become a grandmaster at twenty-eight.

But with conditions so much better now, he believed someone could surely manage it by twenty-five.

The main dilemma facing modern Tianxia society was the contradiction between vast tracts of land and too few people.

Given Xia Star’s current size, even 100 billion people made it sparsely populated.

Lu Chenzhou’s aim was to break the trillion mark as soon as possible.

The larger the population base, the easier for geniuses to arise, the more regions can be developed, and resources fully utilized.

Otherwise, how to generate 1,000 Heavenly Realm experts for the Divine Enthronement project?

With all these measures, both Martial Artists and commoners gloried in childbirth.

Martial Artists of lacking talent even entered "spam-children mode."

Just like drawing cards: birth a Martial Arts Genius, and your entire family’s fate will be transformed.

The elderly grandmasters found their second spring, trumpeting "many sons bring many blessings" as they set about procreation with renewed vigor.

Now rapid advances in technology and the martial path left only population and talent as bottlenecks!

The four great cities were forever expanding their boundaries as the populace grew.

...

On that day—

Primordial Mountain Cave Heaven.

"Who wakes first from the Great Dream? In this life, I alone know."

A white-robed youth with long hair draping his shoulders stepped from his cave, elated.

A flock of blue butterflies danced and circled about him.

"Little junior brother, what makes you this happy?"

Mister Turtle woke up, groggy. Ever since giving Lu Chenzhou his essence blood, he’d grown ever fonder of sleep.

"Senior brother, I’ve just worked out a new divine skill."

Lu Chenzhou arrived in step with the butterflies.

"A divine skill of the Great Dream Dao?"

"Mm."

"Little brother, that makes three divine skills now, doesn’t it?"

"It does."

"Don’t bite off more than you can chew."

"Don’t worry, senior brother—I know my limits."

With a single thought, Lu Chenzhou arrived at the Inner Scenery Land.

He gazed at the World Tree, locating the "Kun Gu Realm."

"Time to visit the ancient cultivator’s cave and see who has invited me."

...

Kun Gu Realm, Great Rift Valley.

Lu Chenzhou’s eyes glinted; with 1.6 million Prajna in telekinesis, he scoured the area, spotting traces of demon clan activity—though no Demon Venerable.

Soon, he touched down, reaching the iron-sword-paved road at the bottom.

Two sword-bearers stood and glared at him menacingly.

"Jian Yi, Jian Er... fall back."

Inside the hall, a deep, ancient voice echoed.

Lu Chenzhou looked around, then cupped his fists and said, "Was it senior who spoke to me that day?"

"It was."

"May I ask your illustrious name, Senior?"

"Qingyunzi."